TDWH: Before Chickenfoot, there was Van Hagar

Highlights of Weekenders of five, 10 and 15 years ago; TDWH stands for “This Date in Weekender History.” It’s a pathetic attempt to simulate cool text-messaging lingo. NOTE: I don’t look through old Weekenders while driving, though.

Sept. 24, 2004

MUSIC, EVENTS

• Van Halen at SBC Center: This was the last hurrah of the Van Hagar lineup featuring the brothers Van Halen, Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony, who reunited after nine years of recriminations and the in-and-out status of David Lee Roth (who, strangely, had co-headlined with Hagar in 2002 on the Sammy & Dave Tour). We learned after the fact that Anthony, who had been on the outs with Eddie Van Halen since the mid-’90s, was essentially a hired gun on this tour (he signed a reduced royalties contract) and wouldn’t have been there at all had Hagar not insisted on it. And Eddie’s drinking reportedly didn’t help matters.

Still, when they hit S.A., things apparently were still going well. Hagar and Alex Van Halen did a joint interview, during which Hagar deflected talk of the inner turmoil: “The whole of being older is, you know, time going by, water going under the bridge, whatever it is, you kind of forget even like what happened or why you were mad to begin with and what all you said. All that stuff goes out the window when you see a person that you truly do have a deep relationship with them …

“We decided rather than go to therapy like some of these other bands and dig around in the dirt, you know, we said, ‘No, no. Here’s what we’re going to do: We’re going to pretend like it never happened. We’re going to like rise above it,’ and it’s really what we did.”

For awhile. Anthony, who hit town with Hagar in Chickenfoot a week ago, reportedly hasn’t talked to Eddie since.

ALSO IN TOWN: Geez, too bad there weren’t any other major concerts. The Majestic Theatre hosted B.B. King and Dr. John (as par of B.B.’s Blues Festival) and Julio Iglesias two days apart. Iglesias said he couldn’t imagine doing anything else. “Singing for me is like breathing. Singing is like the electricity in your home. If I stopped singing, it would be like as if someone pulled the plug at your house and you were left with a lantern.”

MOVIES

New this week:

• “The Forgotten”: Julianne Moore is a Brooklyn mom whose 9-year-old son has died, and no one seems to even remember that he ever existed. She eventually teams up with a hockey player (Dominic West) who begins to remember he once had a daughter, too. Psychological thriller turns into a sci-fi thriller.

• “Shaun of the Dead”: This week’s most memorable movie sparked a revival of sorts of zombie flicks (case in point: “Zombieland,” which opens Friday). Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are a couple of bumbling Londoners so caught up in everyday angst, they fail to notice the growing presence of zombies in their midst. Their response? Head to the pub.

ALSO OPENING: The comedy “First Daughter,” starring Katie Holmes as the president’s college-bound daughter; Spike Lee’s “She Hate Me”; and the raunchy John Waters comedy “A Dirty Shame,” starring Tracey Ullman as a mom who becomes a sex adddict after suffering a concussion in a car crash and Johnny Knoxville as a sex addict (who’s pro-sex addiction, by the way). “The movie catalogs fetishes you might be happier not knowing about,” Roger Ebert wrote.

Sept. 24, 1999

MUSIC, EVENTS

• “Beauty and the Beast” at Majestic: Inspired by the popularity of the hit Disney movie, the stage version was a hot ticket. It included the song “Human Again,” which was left out of the film. But there was additional dialogue and music, as Disney tapped screenwriter Linda Woolverton and composer Alan Menken to flesh out the production.

• Motorhead at White Rabbit. The always lovely Lemmy fronted an ever-changing lineup of the British metal group whose sound never changes. What keeps him going, music writer Hector Saldaña asked? “I guess it shows I’m not smart enough to give up,” he said. “This is what I do, and I do it very well. Why stop?

“We change, but it’s not as a reaction to what anyone else is doing. We change within ourselves. We don’t consciously think, ‘Oh, OK, everything’s dance music this year. We’d better put a disco beat to it. That’s (expletive). People that do that fail miserably.”

Speaking of expletives, the opening act was Nashville Pussy, a no-holds-barred punk band that was making a name for itself despite a problematic name (we called them Nashville P.) They were even nominated for a hard-rock Grammy. “At the Grammys, everyone wanted to do something on us, and no one was allowed to,” guitarist Ruyter Suys said. “CNN loves us, but they couldn’t mention the name.”

Mena Suvari was the object of Kevin Spacey’s lust in “American Beauty.”

MOVIES

• “American Beauty”: September releases are usually lousy, but here’s a major exception. The film that put director Sam Mendes on the map (it was his debut), the dark comedy of suburban angst and murder starred Kevin Spacey as a dead-inside man lusting after his daughter’s best friend (Mena Suvari) and Annette Bening as his burned-out wife. Nominated for eight Oscars; won five, including Spacey and Mendes. Four jalapeños from Express-News critic Larry Ratliff.

ALSO OPENING: The so-so Tommy Lee Jones action-thriller “Double Jeopardy”; and the Lawrence Kasdan comedy “Mumford,” starring Loren Dean as a small-town shrink whose ability to actually help people fills his waiting room. Roger Ebert has called this one a neglected gem. You should rent it some time. I should rent it sometime.

Sept. 23, 1994

MUSIC, EVENTS

• KKYX Great Country River Festival: Big festival that involved bands playing in the Arneson River Theater and on river barges used to be a late-September staple. This year’s edition featured Nashville newcomer Bryan Austin as well as the likes of Gary P. Nunn, Eddy Raven, Bobby Bare, Johnny Bush, Darrell McCall and Dottsy.

• Rock ‘n Roll Reunion: Let country music hog the show? Never! This bash at the Alzafar Shrine Temple from the North San Antonio Chamber aimed to re-create the ’50s and ’60’s with a burger cookoff, custom car show and retro music by Johnny Dee, Richard Hailey and Austin ’50s band Hot Wax.

MOVIES

• “Terminal Velocity”: Fast-paced adventure starring Charlie Sheen and Nastassja Kinski as high-flying lovers is mostly remembered for its skydiving stunts, which helped gloss over a thin plot. Sheen is a skydiving instructor; Kinski is a spy who wants to learn, and in a hurry. Trivia: According to iMDB, filming involved 23 Cadillac Allantes, nine of which bit it. The director, Deran Sarafian, should be familiar to “House” fans — he has directed 22 episodes of the hit Fox series since 2005.

• “Fear of a Black Hat”: Very funny mockumentary; the hip-hop “Spinal Tap.” Starring Rusty Cundieff, Mark Christopher Lawrence and Larry B. Scott, the film charts the rise and fall of rappers Tone Def, Tasty Taste and Ice Cold, collectively known as NWH, or, uh, Negroes With Hats, whose big hit is “Kill Whitey.” Where “This Is Spinal Tap” had a running gag of drummers dying in unusual ways, “Fear’s” is the band’s series of white managers, who are always getting killed, which is why they don’t want to put blacks at risk. “…Provides a lot of laughs, and barbecues a few sacred cows,” Ebert wrote. Amen to that.